System and method for blocking objectionable communications in a social network

ABSTRACT

A system and method blocks objectionable communications in a social network. A first user of the social network determines when communications from a second user to the first user that are displayed and viewed by third party users of the social network are objectionable. In response, the first user blocks further display of communications from the second user to the first user that were intended by the second user to be displayed and viewed by third party users of the social network.

PRIORITY CLAIM

This application is a continuation of co-pending U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 12/392,121 filed Feb. 25, 2009, the entire disclosure of whichis hereby incorporated herein by reference and to which the instantapplication claims priority.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to the field of communications systems,and more particularly, to communications in a social network.

BACKGROUND

Social networking sites, for example, Facebook™, MySpace™, and similarsocial network sites as well as Instant Messaging systems, online chatroom and bulletin boards, often have private and public communicationsthat are viewable not only by the immediate users, but also by thirdparty users of the social network or Instant Messaging system. Theseusers could be approved or designated friends by a first user tocommunicate and view other communications from similarly designatedfriends.

Often in a social network site or Instant Messaging system, a rogue userwill write or text an inappropriate message or do an annoying action,such as engaging in an incorrect “poke” to annoy a user or publicly postan unsavory comment about the user.

For example, a first user could have a message wall as in Facebook™ inwhich the communications from a second user to the first user aredisplayed and can be viewed by third party users of the social network.The second user may post on this wall inappropriate or objectionablemessages. If the messages are private messages only intended for thefirst user, then the first user may not be overly bothered. If themessages are public messages to be viewed by others such as the thirdparty users, however, then the first user may consider these messagesinappropriate for public consumption. Similar instances can occur in anInstant Messaging system in which messages from a second user to thefirst user are inappropriate and the first user does not want otherthird party users to see the inappropriate messages and inappropriatecontent.

One technical solution to this problem of inappropriate messages beingposted by the second user on the wall of the first user is to no longerdesignate the second user as a friend. When this occurs, the second usermay not view or post messages on the wall of the first user. Thissolution could have issues if the second user as a friend is a familymember or long-standing close friend who only needs the inappropriatebehavior modified in an appropriate manner while discontinuing anypublic posting of such inappropriate messages and communications.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention willbecome apparent from the detailed description which follows, whenconsidered in light of the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a flow diagram illustrating basic aspects of a method forblocking objectionable communications in a social network or similarcommunications network in accordance with a non-limiting example;

FIG. 2 is a high-level block diagram showing a communications systemthat includes a social network server with Instant Messagingfunctionality, a communications network and various first, second andthird party users of the social network in accordance with anon-limiting example;

FIG. 3 is a representation of a social network site user interfaceshowing a penalty box as a non-limiting example; and

FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram illustrating example components of amobile wireless communications device that could be used with the systemas described relative to FIGS. 1-3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Different embodiments will now be described more fully hereinafter withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which preferred embodimentsare shown. Many different forms can be set forth and describedembodiments should not be construed as limited to the embodiments setforth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that thisdisclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey thescope to those skilled in the art. Like numbers refer to like elementsthroughout.

Generally speaking, a method and system, in accordance with non-limitingexamples, blocks objectionable communications in a social network orother similar communications network such as an Instant Messagingnetwork where a second user communicates with a first user such as bycommunications posted on a wall to be viewed by other third party usersof the system. These users could all be designated friends. The socialnetwork communications could also refer to wall posting and InstantMessaging. In one aspect, a first user of the social network determineswhen communications from a second user to the first user that aredisplayed and viewed by third party users of the social network areobjectionable. In response, the first user blocks further display ofcommunications from the second user to the first user that were intendedby the second user to be displayed and viewed by third party users ofthe social network.

The second user is typically an approved user designated by the firstuser to display communications to the third party users. The approvedsecond user is typically a friend designated by the first user. Thirdparty users typically also are approved users designated by the firstuser, and typically are designated as friends in some social networks,such as Facebook™ as a non-limiting example.

In one aspect, the communications system includes a social networkserver that is configured to provide a user interface for the socialnetwork communications and allow the first user to receive thecommunications from the second user that are displayed and viewed bythird party users of the social network. A communications module cancommunicate with the first and second users and the third party userssuch as through a communications network, e.g., an internet, and receivea blocking request from the first user and communicate the blockingrequest to the social network server for blocking further display to thethird party users of communications from the second user to the firstuser that are intended to be displayed and viewed by third party users.

It is possible to display any further communications from the seconduser only to the first user, while blocking further display of thosecommunications to the third party users. These communications from thesecond user to the first user could include communications posted on awall of the first user or texting by Instant Messaging. In one aspect,the second user can be blocked for a predetermined period of time. Thisallows further display of communications from the second user to thefirst user to be viewed by the third party users after the predeterminedperiod of time has passed. In another aspect, an indication can be sentto the second user that the communications to the first user that areintended to be displayed to other third party users has been blocked andcan no longer be viewed. This indication could be an indication that thesecond user has been placed in a penalty box status. Graphics could beestablished from the social network server to be viewed on userdisplays, such as on a personal computer or portable wirelesscommunications device, showing a penalty box status. The graphics couldbe public or private, making the penalty box status a private or publicpunishment depending on what action is desired by the first user.

The communications between first and second users could be InstantMessaging communications as part of a social network or as part ofanother Instant Messaging communications system. A computer readablemedium is also set forth.

FIG. 1 is a high-level flowchart of an example of a method used forblocking objectionable communications in a communications network suchas the example social network described above. As shown, a first userestablishes a social network wall for posting and viewing communicationsfrom friends (block 100). Certain users are designated as friends by thefirst user. These friends can post to the wall. A second user as afriend posts communications to the wall of the first user that areviewed by third party users, for example, friends of the first user(block 102). A determination is made whether the communications from thesecond user are objectionable to the first user (block 104). Thisdetermination can be automatic based on predetermined criteria such aspreference settings established by the first user. For instance,messages containing a particular word could be automatically determinedas objectionable by the social network server. The user can control theobjectionable vocabulary through preference settings in a penalty box orother user interface. It is also possible for the first user to make anobjection on-the-fly as to the content and communications that areobjectionable based on predetermined criteria that the user decides atthat moment and in response send a request to the social network serverto block communications as explained below. If the communications fromthe second user are not objectionable, the second user can continueposting communications to the wall of the first user. This allowsviewing by the third party users (block 106).

If the communications from the second user, however, are objectionable,the first user sends a blocking request to the social network server toblock the second user from posting further communications to the wall ofthe first user (block 108). It should be understood that blockingrequests can be accomplished at the request of the first user or it canbe accomplished automatically by the social network server based on thefirst user's predetermined criteria, such as preference settings. Thesecond user is blocked for a predetermined period of time (block 110),which can vary from a few to 48 hours, for example, to longer periods oftime. During that time, the first user may not wish to view any postsfrom the second user or view additional posts, while third party userscannot view these posts. After the predetermined period of time haslapsed, the second user is unblocked and is allowed to post again to thewall of the first user (block 112). The process then repeats with step104 and the first user (or server) again determines if the second user'scommunications are objectionable. Although the process would continuewith the blocking and unblocking steps as described, it could be that ifon the second repetition the second user's communications areobjectionable, the blocking action can occur for a much longerpredetermined period of time or the second user can be permanentlyblocked.

FIG. 2 illustrates a communications system 200, in accordance with anon-limiting example, that can incorporate the method as describedrelative to FIG. 1. This communications system 200 could be for a socialnetwork or Instant Messaging or a combination of both. As illustrated, asocial network server 202 includes a processor 204 and associateddatabase 206 and communications module 208. The database 206 can storedata relating to various applications that can be drawn upon by users,including third party applications, data relating to the users andfriends, data for stored programs and other stored data that can be usedin the social network. The processor 204 is operative with the database206 and the communications module 208 and processes data for a userinterface to be used by different users, Instant Messaging applicationsin one non-limiting example, third party applications, such as Facebook™mark-up language applications and other social network functions. Datais transmitted to and from different users through the communicationsmodule 208 as part of the social network server 202 through thecommunications network 220 to the first user 210, second user 222 andvarious third party users 224. The communications network 210 could be awireless communications network and the different users could useportable wireless communications devices or personal computers as partof their office or business. The communications network 210 could alsobe a wireless network that communicates with a public switched telephonenetwork.

The social network server 202 could be formed from a plurality ofdifferent servers, with each server having one or more processors, oneor more databases and one or more communications modules. Load balancingcould be used when different servers are employed. It should also beunderstood that different users can communicate with each other throughthe communications network and incorporate Instant Messagingfunctionality using an Instant Messaging server 230 and operatingthrough the communications network to each other. Functionality for ablocking request from a first user can be incorporated into an InstantMessaging server 230 (which could be part of the social network serveras illustrated or separate therefrom) and having Instant Messagingfunctionality.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a user interface that is established by asocial network site that transmits data to a user device to display asocial network wall depicting a user interface at 300 that includes thevarious user interactions and display of information for the socialnetwork site. For example, the name of the user could be displayed withlogout information and a listing of on-line friends such as shown as thetop portion at 300 a and in this example listing Joe Friend and LarryFriend as “friends.” This could be followed by general information suchas requests for friend suggestions or friend requests and a line for“what are you doing now.” Other applications and news feeds and commentsare shown including some advertising by a sponsor shown at 300 b.

A penalty box 302 is shown at the bottom left and displays informationregarding the users that are placed in the penalty box such thatcommunications to the first user from the second user cannot be postedto third party users and to the first user if the first user elects notto view them. For example, a first data item in the penalty box 302could be information concerning the identity of the person placed in thepenalty box and whether that person should be removed (304). A pictureof that person could be displayed. At line 306, any individual thatshould be added to the penalty box can be listed. Penalty box settingsare set at line 308 and the user can use the user interface at line 308to establish predetermined criteria of what types of communicationsshould be blocked. Line 310 shows basic information concerning whichperson was recently removed from the penalty box such as John Mean.

It should be understood that the method and system as describedtypically incorporates software such as part of a social networkplatform software, for example, a Facebook™ platform, that provides aframework for different third party developers to create applicationsthat interact with the core Facebook™ features. For example, inaccordance with non-limiting examples, the blocking feature as describedcould be incorporated as a third party application that uses theFacebook™ Mark-up Language (FBML) with an extension to HTML. Differenttag sets can be supported and used with the blocking feature asdescribed such as different social data tags, sanitization tags, designtags, component tags and control tags.

In one aspect, the Facebook™ Mark-up Language can use the extensions andtags with mark-up tags and procedural tags that include UI elements suchthat different users can be identified with a UID (User Identifier).Specific users could view communications posted made by a particularsecond user that has been determined to have inappropriate postings. Forexample, a graphic could be displayed that appears as a penalty box inwhich the second user is placed. This graphic could be displayed only tothat second user that has been found to post offending messages, or thegraphic could be displayed to one or both the first user and seconduser. If the first user wants a more public humiliation, the graphic forthe penalty box with the second user displayed in the penalty box couldbe displayed also to third party users. Also, an application could beimplemented in which the first user could select specific friends orother users with specific UID's to view the penalty box.

One advantageous aspect is the first user deciding when a second userhas objectionable behavior or communications in the social network andmust be placed in the penalty box. There have been some proposals forcurtailing objectionable behavior in a web-based social network in whichactions of users of the social network are monitored by the socialnetwork system itself for objectionable behavior. In those systems, apolicy is determined based on the behaviors and warnings issued. Auser's account may be suspended. The social network system itself takescorrective action if a threshold is exceeded. This is different from thesystem and method as described above in which the first user that hasimplemented the wall objects to the behavior of a second user and placesthe second user in the penalty box.

It should be understood that social content can be used with social datatags, which can retrieve and format data to an application or a specificuser making a request. An example is the blocking request having datathat takes many forms, such as including specific user information,group information or even photos such as of a penalty box. A social datatag can identify and render a user's name in different ways.

Sanitization tags can be used with different users that each may havedifferent standards. Some users may want to sanitize or remove certainHTML tags, such as used by a second user that has objectionablebehavior. A first user can define specific design tags to define thelook of the page of a penalty box. Component tags can be used forallowing user interaction, for example, the second user interacting withone of at least the first user and third party users according to therules of a penalty box status. For example, only certain types ofmessages could be posted or messages posted only at certain times of theday. Control tags could be used to allow other users to show contentonly to the owner of an application profile box. Thus, the penalty boxcould be hid from other third party users and displayed to the secondparty user and first party use or just the first party user. Controltags could be used for such a purpose.

Example components of a hand-held mobile wireless communications device1000 that may be used in accordance the system as described in FIGS. 1-3is further described in the example below with reference to FIG. 4. Thedevice 1000 illustratively includes a housing 1200, a keypad 1400 and anoutput device 1600. The output device shown is a display 1600, which maycomprise a full graphic LCD. In some embodiments, display 1600 maycomprise a touch-sensitive input and output device. Other types ofoutput devices may alternatively be utilized. A processing device 1800is contained within the housing 1200 and is coupled between the keypad1400 and the display 1600. The processing device 1800 controls theoperation of the display 1600, as well as the overall operation of themobile device 1000, in response to actuation of keys on the keypad 1400by the user. In some embodiments, keypad 1400 may comprise a physicalkeypad or a virtual keypad (e.g., using a touch-sensitive interface) orboth.

The housing 1200 may be elongated vertically, or may take on other sizesand shapes (including clamshell housing structures). The keypad 1400 mayinclude a mode selection key, or other hardware or software forswitching between text entry and telephony entry.

In addition to the processing device 1800, other parts of the mobiledevice 1000 are shown schematically in FIG. 4. These include acommunications subsystem 1001; a short-range communications subsystem1020; the keypad 1400 and the display 1600, along with otherinput/output devices 1060, 1080, 1100 and 1120; as well as memorydevices 1160, 1180 and various other device subsystems 1201. The mobiledevice 1000 may comprise a two-way RF communications device having voiceand data communications capabilities. In addition, the mobile device1000 may have the capability to communicate with other computer systemsvia the Internet.

Operating system software executed by the processing device 1800 may bestored in a persistent store, such as the flash memory 1160, but may bestored in other types of memory devices, such as a read only memory(ROM) or similar storage element. In addition, system software, specificdevice applications, or parts thereof, may be temporarily loaded into avolatile store, such as the random access memory (RAM) 1180.Communications signals received by the mobile device may also be storedin the RAM 1180.

The processing device 1800, in addition to its operating systemfunctions, enables execution of software applications 1300A-1300N on thedevice 1000. A predetermined set of applications that control basicdevice operations, such as data and voice communications 1300A and1300B, may be installed on the device 1000 during manufacture. Inaddition, a personal information manager (PIM) application may beinstalled during manufacture. The PIM may be capable of organizing andmanaging data items, such as e-mail, calendar events, voice mails,appointments, and task items. The PIM application may also be capable ofsending and receiving data items via a wireless network 1401. The PIMdata items may be seamlessly integrated, synchronized and updated viathe wireless network 1401 with the device user's corresponding dataitems stored or associated with a host computer system.

Communication functions, including data and voice communications, areperformed through the communications subsystem 1001, and possiblythrough the short-range communications subsystem. The communicationssubsystem 1001 includes a receiver 1500, a transmitter 1520, and one ormore antennas 1540 and 1560. In addition, the communications subsystem1001 also includes a processing module, such as a digital signalprocessor (DSP) 1580, and local oscillators (LOs) 1601. The specificdesign and implementation of the communications subsystem 1001 isdependent upon the communications network in which the mobile device1000 is intended to operate. For example, a mobile device 1000 mayinclude a communications subsystem 1001 designed to operate with theMobitex™, Data TAC™ or General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) mobile datacommunications networks, and also designed to operate with any of avariety of voice communications networks, such as AMPS, TDMA, CDMA,WCDMA, PCS, GSM, EDGE, etc. Other types of data and voice networks, bothseparate and integrated, may also be utilized with the mobile device1000. The mobile device 1000 may also be compliant with othercommunications standards such as 3GSM, 3G, UMTS, 4G, etc.

Network access requirements vary depending upon the type ofcommunication system. For example, in the Mobitex and DataTAC networks,mobile devices are registered on the network using a unique personalidentification number or PIN associated with each device. In GPRSnetworks, however, network access is associated with a subscriber oruser of a device. A GPRS device therefore utilizes a subscriber identitymodule, commonly referred to as a SIM card, in order to operate on aGPRS network.

When required network registration or activation procedures have beencompleted, the mobile device 1000 may send and receive communicationssignals over the communication network 1401. Signals received from thecommunications network 1401 by the antenna 1540 are routed to thereceiver 1500, which provides for signal amplification, frequency downconversion, filtering, channel selection, etc., and may also provideanalog to digital conversion. Analog-to-digital conversion of thereceived signal allows the DSP 1580 to perform more complexcommunications functions, such as demodulation and decoding. In asimilar manner, signals to be transmitted to the network 1401 areprocessed (e.g. modulated and encoded) by the DSP 1580 and are thenprovided to the transmitter 1520 for digital to analog conversion,frequency up conversion, filtering, amplification and transmission tothe communication network 1401 (or networks) via the antenna 1560.

In addition to processing communications signals, the DSP 1580 providesfor control of the receiver 1500 and the transmitter 1520. For example,gains applied to communications signals in the receiver 1500 andtransmitter 1520 may be adaptively controlled through automatic gaincontrol processes implemented in the DSP 1580.

In a data communications mode, a received signal, such as a text messageor web page download, is processed by the communications subsystem 1001and is input to the processing device 1800. The received signal is thenfurther processed by the processing device 1800 for an output to thedisplay 1600, or alternatively to some other auxiliary I/O device 1060.A device user may also compose data items, such as e-mail messages,using the keypad 1400 and/or some other auxiliary I/O device 1060, suchas a touchpad, a rocker switch, a thumb-wheel, or some other type ofinput device. The composed data items may then be transmitted over thecommunications network 1401 via the communications subsystem 1001.

In a voice communications mode, overall operation of the device issubstantially similar to the data communications mode, except thatreceived signals are output to a speaker 1100, and signals fortransmission are generated by a microphone 1120. Alternative voice oraudio I/O subsystems, such as a voice message recording subsystem, mayalso be implemented on the device 1000. In addition, the display 1600may also be utilized in voice communications mode, for example todisplay the identity of a calling party, the duration of a voice call,or other voice call related information.

The short-range communications subsystem enables communication betweenthe mobile device 1000 and other proximate systems or devices, whichneed not necessarily be similar devices. For example, the short-rangecommunications subsystem may include an infrared device and associatedcircuits and components, or a Bluetooth™ communications module toprovide for communication with similarly-enabled systems and devices.

Many modifications and other embodiments of the system and method willcome to the mind of one skilled in the art having the benefit of theteachings presented in the foregoing descriptions and the associateddrawings. Therefore, it is understood that the described system andmethod are not to be limited to the specific embodiments disclosed, andthat modifications and embodiments are intended to be included withinthe scope of the appended claims.

1. A method for blocking objectionable communications in a socialnetwork, comprising: transmitting data from a communications module of asocial network server to communications devices to display a userinterface on the communications devices and post communications betweena first and second user that are viewed by third party users of thesocial network; the social network server automatically determining whencommunications from the second user that are posted and displayed andviewed by third party users are objectionable based on preferencesettings established by the first user in the user interface, and inresponse, blocking further display of communications from the seconduser to the first user that can be viewed by third party users; anddisplaying further communications from the second user only to the firstuser while blocking display of those communications to the third partyusers.
 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the second user is anapproved user designated by the first user to display communications tothe third party users.
 3. The method according to claim 2, wherein theapproved second user is a friend designated by the first user.
 4. Themethod according to claim 1, wherein the third party users are approvedusers designated by the first user.
 5. The method according to claim 4,wherein the approved third party users are friends designated by thefirst user.
 6. The method according to claim 1, the preference settingsestablished by the first user in a penalty box of the user interface onthe communications device.
 7. The method according to claim 1, whereinthe communications from the second user to the first user compriseposting communications on a wall of the first user.
 8. The methodaccording to claim 1, and further comprising blocking the second userfor a predetermined period of time and allowing further display ofcommunications from the second user to the first user to be viewed bythe third party users after the predetermined period of time has passed.9. The method according to claim 1, and further comprising indicating tothe second user that the communications to the first user that areintended to be displayed to other third party users have been blocked.10. The method according to claim 9, and further comprising indicatingto the second user that the second user has been placed within a penaltybox status indicative of the first user blocking the second user. 11.The method according to claim 1, wherein communications between firstand second users comprise instant messaging communications.
 12. Themethod according to claim 1, further comprising: displaying on a userinterface of the first user a penalty box indicating that the seconduser is no longer able to post communications intended from the seconduser to the first user.
 13. A communications system, comprising: asocial network server that is configured to provide a user interface fora social network and allow a first user to receive communications from asecond user that are displayed and viewed by third party users of thesocial network; and a communications module that communicates with thefirst and second users and third party users and receives a blockingrequest from the first user and communicates the blocking request to thesocial network server for blocking further display to the third partyusers of communications from the second user to the first user that areintended to be displayed and viewed by the third party users after thesocial network server has automatically determined that thecommunications from the second user are objectionable based onpreference settings established by the first user, said social networkserver is operative with the communications module for displayingcommunications from the second user only to the first user whileblocking display of those communications to the third party users. 14.The system according to claim 13, wherein the second user is an approveduser designated by the first user to display communications to the thirdparty users.
 15. The system according to claim 14, wherein the approvedsecond user is a friend designated by the first user.
 16. The systemaccording to claim 13, wherein the approved third party users areapproved users designated by the first user.
 17. The system according toclaim 16, wherein the third party users are friends designated by thefirst user.
 18. The system according to claim 13, the preferencesettings established by the first user in a penalty box of the userinterface.
 19. The system according to claim 13, wherein said socialnetwork server is operative for implementing a wall of the first user towhich communications from other users of the social network can beposted, wherein the communications from the second user to the firstuser comprise posting communications on the wall of the first user. 20.The system according to claim 13, wherein said social network server isoperative with the communications module for blocking the second userfor a predetermined period of time and allowing further display ofcommunications from the second user to the first user to be viewed bythe third party users after the predetermined period of time has passed.21. The system according to claim 13, wherein said social network serveris operative with the communications module for indicating to the seconduser that their communications to the first user and that are intendedto be displayed to other third party users have been blocked.
 22. Thesystem according to claim 21, and further comprising indicating to thesecond user that the second user has been placed within a penalty boxstatus indicative of the first user blocking the second user.
 23. Thesystem according to claim 13, wherein the communications between firstand second users comprise instant messaging communications.
 24. Anon-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereoncomputer-executable instructions for blocking objectionablecommunications in a social network, comprising: receiving communicationsfrom a second user to a first user that are viewed by third party usersof the social network; and blocking further display of communicationsfrom the second user to the first user that were intended by the seconduser to be displayed and viewed by third party users of the socialnetwork after automatically determining that the communications from thesecond user are objectionable based on preference settings establishedby the first user in a user interface; and displaying furthercommunications from the second user only to the first user whileblocking display of those communications to the third party users. 25.The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 24,wherein said computer-executable instructions are operable for blockingthe second user for a predetermined period of time and allowing furtherdisplay of communications from the second user to the first user to beviewed by the third party users after the predetermined period of timehas passed.
 26. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according toclaim 24, wherein said computer-executable instructions are operable forprocessing instant messaging communications.
 27. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium according to claim 24, where the preferencesettings are established by the first user in a penalty box of the userinterface.
 28. A method for blocking objectionable communications in asocial network, comprising: transmitting data from a communicationsmodule of a social network server to communications devices to display auser interface on the communications devices and post communicationsbetween a first and second user that are viewed by third party users ofthe social network; the social network server automatically determiningwhen communications from the second user that are posted and displayedand viewed by third party users are objectionable based on preferencesettings established by the first user, and in response, blockingfurther display of communications from the second user to the first userthat can be viewed by third party users; and displaying on a userinterface of the first user a penalty box indicating that the seconduser is no longer able to post communications intended from the seconduser to the first user.
 29. The method according to claim 28, thepreference settings established by the first user in the penalty box ofthe user interface of the first user.